Warner Bros. Discovery, led by CEO David Zaslav, reported on Thursday that it ended 2024 with 116.9 million global streaming subscribers, compared with 110.5 million as of the end of September. The figures include subs for Max and Discovery+.
Streaming subs grew both in the U.S. and in international markets in the fourth quarter. In a shareholder newsletter published with the earnings update, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) outlined a path to 150 million subscribers by the end of 2026.
Total direct-to-consumer (DTC) segment revenue in the quarter increased driven by the user growth, helped by Max’s availability in bundles. During the latest period, WBD posted a quarterly profit of $409 million for its DTC unit, which includes its streaming and premium pay-TV services, compared with a $55 million year-ago loss.
For the full-year 2024, WBD’s DTC business turned a profit of $677 million, compared to a 2023 profit of $103 million and a 2022 loss of $217 million.
Zaslav previously told Wall Street that the company had seen the positive DTC trends continue into the fourth quarter, for which he promised strong revenue, sub and profit growth. While the firm has posted DTC revenue gains, sub growth and quarterly profits before, it now has growth and momentum, he signaled, taking WBD from its talking to its showing success stage.
With Netflix profitable and being seen by some observers as the king of streaming, Wall Street has been looking for Hollywood conglomerates to make their streaming business units sustainably profitable.
WBD previously said it was targeting $1 billion or more in DTC earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2025. Zaslav, however, more recently told Wall Street that the conglomerate was now expecting to meaningfully exceed that, touting “clear results” of the firm’s focus, investment and patience on Max.
“We expect strong DTC subscriber growth to continue throughout 2025. And we now have a clear path to reach at least 150 million global subscribers by the end of 2026, with corresponding strong DTC revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth,” WBD said in its shareholder letter on Thursday. “We recently struck a nonexclusive agreement to launch on Sky in the U.K. and Ireland that will bring Max to approximately 10 million of their current subscribers by the second quarter of 2026 and affords us the flexibility to potentially reach consumers not currently served by Sky. And just prior, we will launch in Germany and Italy in the first quarter of 2026 – two important markets with strong proven appeal for our programming – further supporting ongoing growth. In short, our global expansion still has significant runway as Max rolls out to over 40 percent of the addressable global market where it is not yet available.”
WBD executives told MIP London on Wednesday that the conglomerate was striving to be a top 3 streamer with Max in the markets where it is available. The company has also focused on improving the performance of its studio business. “Even in an industry of hits and misses, we must acknowledge that our studios business must deliver more consistency,” Zaslav said late last year.
Read the full article here
